h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: François Rabelais - A10372718
Author: pailaway (the parenthetical) - U2750614

I think that launching an entry is similar to throwing a frisbee in that, in either case, you want to obey frisbee's first law: never precede a throw with a statement any more predictive than, "watch this."

Fantastic stuff! Well researched and well written and I enjoyed every minute of it. But (you ready for the buts) -

I only read it because I'd heard of the man, perhaps you need a hook in the title to bring in more readers?

The quotes are fantastic, but some of them are a bit lengthy and this could prove a problem -

1. for copyright (although I doubt it)

2. when reading I did tend to skim over them a bit.

Other than that though, great stuff! I myself didn't find any glaring grammar or punctuation errors on first read, but I was enjoying the content too much to notice to be honest. Will come back again with me nit comb and see what what

oh, some other thoughts - some EG links? There's bound to be some.

And with your HREF links, use of the TITLE tag is recommended too

Fabulous entry! much as I am loathe to insert a but, I fear I must a but insert I would most respectfully suggest a rewrite of the Christ epithet in the footnote. Apart from anything else, I doubt it would make it through the editing process. I also second Sho and Matt with regard to the links and the quotes.
Really enjoyed reading this.

W

Thanks for your comments, both of you - I am aware that the christ epithet may be problematic and am certainly willing to change it - even to something as innocuous as "Oh No!" My goal is that the entry itself be rabelaisian - but not offensive - and the only reason for the "Christ!" was that the original begats were about him, (sort of like that line from a song, "I said, 'Jesus, you look tired.' He said, 'Jesus, so do you.'")

Also, since it is supposed to be rabelaisian, it should never be tedious - I am trusting you to report any tedious parts at once! Too long quotes? I'll cut 'em down.

()

Btw, on those EG links - I have plenty of them - check out the 'capital F' for example. I think that I must have used incorrect guideml since they don't show up as EG links. Guess I'll have to re-read the Guideml entry more carefully.

()

Pesky links

You need to post internal links as:

body parts not body parts

That should solve your problem

*wonders what happened to Sho's post* (glances at Wilma, raising one eyebrow) dear?

Ok, links are repaired. I just want you all to know that I spent a lot of time looking for EG entries to reference and am inordinately pleased with them. Also, I changed "Christ!" to "Jesus - " let's see how that works. I only want to instruct, to amuse, to cause to snort, but not to offend.

()

Pailaway, let's see if that gets through

*takes most gratefully and also ponders Sho's missing post*

Thanks

Now about that title. It is vanilla isn't it? hmm...
my first thought was to append, "from tonsure to censure", but that's a little dry.

Staying with the ice-cream flavor comparison though, how about "with Bawdy Parts and Naughty Bits"

I think that'll work for now at least. ()

Regarding Sho's missing post - I have a theory. First of all, I think we can all agree that posts are generally in orbit, around Mars let's say.

Usually the orbit looks like this:

But sometimes like this: (crash!)

And sometimes even like this:

We americans have found that the trouble is usually with the units conversion (we modified a spell checker for the purpose) - but that's not to say that it couldn't happen at BBC, depending on where and by whom their software is written. If your page shows a button marked "feat to meeters" then I definitely suggest that you not press it.

*adjusts babelfish*


still


*chucks babelfish in the bin and goes down the corridor to find another one*

this is my first post here...

and since I'm quite short of time,please let me say
I loved this entry. What a fascinating chappie.

The only thing which springs to mind is that in the footnote for Erasmus you mentioned that he "really was a know-it-all" - that sounds a little negative for me, for a guy who was something not short a brilliant genius (if there is such a thing)

or did you mean it to sound a little

in any case

Love it

Some of the links, although entertaining, are a bit dodgy. The EG Entry behind the Humanism one describes a 20thC movement espoused by Maslow, which kind of precludes Rabelais belonging to it. The secular priest one is tenuous as well, or am I missing something?

Minor crits, though. The subject is good, and the treatment's even better. A thoroughly enjoyable and informative read - thanks!

Good point - I do mean that Erasmus really WAS a know-it-all, and not that he REALLY was a KNOW-IT-ALL, if you see what I mean. I'll see what I can do with this. (Btw, here we have been taking the absence of your post as proof that it fell out of orbit. Well, my advice still stands - just in case there was american programming involved - DO NOT press that button.)

I'll also see if I can find better suited links for humanism & secular priest.

(Btw, let me just say, before I get pilloried, that "american programming" remark was intended as a twit about a certain mars program, not an insult about american programming in general.)

()

Ok, did some housekeeping chores: inserted TITLE tags, added needed segue to Art Imitating Life, added footnote, tidied some things, and swept dust under rug. (Shakes out apron, shakes head and wonders what happened to the day )

()

The quotes are now mercifully short.

(hopped here from your thread over on the hub)

The quotes all look fine to me, now -- and I think the entry is more readable for the changes you've made.

I know the footnotes are important to you, but you might consider cutting a few of them. The way it is now, I think it's pretty likely that either a sub-ed or italic would cut some before it made it to the Front Page -- but if you're the one doing it, you can have some more control over what goes and what stays.



Mikey

Thanks Mikey,

I'll look into cutting some of the footnotes - cutting quotes worked admirably, perhaps same will be true for footnotes.